Survey Reveals 96 Percent of Planners Will Reschedule 2020 Events

April 28, 2020

The Coronavirus has had a worldwide impact on the hospitality and events industries, causing event planners to cancel and postpone events worldwide.

Tripleseat asked thousands of event planners who recently used EventUp, the Tripleseat web directory of restaurants and unique venues, what they are doing to restart the industry in 2020, and the plans they have for future events this year. We’ve compiled the results into an infographic, The Events Industry in 2020.

Here’s more details about what we found:

Nearly everyone — 96 percent of people who took part in the survey — said they have rescheduled an event originally planned for the spring or summer of 2020. Most planners are moving events to late summer or beyond; the top three time frames are September at 29 percent, January 2021 or after at 24 percent; and August at 16 percent.

The majority of these events are corporate events, with 76 percent of respondents reporting that they are planning conferences, meetings, networking parties, and other activities for businesses. Thirty-three percent of planners said they are working on social events, such as reunions, birthday parties, graduation parties, or baby showers. Holiday parties were the third-largest category, at 21 percent. Weddings are next, at 18 percent, with planners saying they’re involved with rehearsal dinners, receptions, or bridal showers. The rest of the events — 17 percent — include fundraisers, art festivals, music festivals, educational workshops, and other types of events.

When asked what planners are planning or implementing in place of live events in the short term, the answers mostly involved online solutions: webinars, virtual events, virtual meetings, virtual happy hours or networking parties, online office hours, online conferences, and livestreaming on social media platforms. For planners in communities that have less stringent social distancing regulations, they are installing hand sanitizer stations, requiring staff to wear masks and gloves.

As planners start to work on their future events, they’re looking for specific information and practices from venues. This includes: